Meet our speakers and organizers

2025 Speakers

Dave Weber, Wilderness Medic

Dave Weber has worked as a rescue technician, remote site medic and skills instructor for over two decades. He currently works as a climbing ranger in Grand Teton National Park and a flight paramedic and hoist rescuer for Intermountain Life Flight. Dave is the owner of Mountain Rescue Collective, a training and auditing firm dedicated to ground and air SAR operations. He has also instructed technical skills for Rigging for Rescue, the American Avalanche Institute and the Khumbu Climbing Center. He lives in Park City, Utah with his wife and daughter during the fall and winter months before transitioning to rescue work for the National Park Service in Jackson, Wyoming for the spring and summer months.
Dr. Alison Sheets, MD, MRA/ASU tech

Dr. Sheets is a Board-Certified Emergency Physician and the Medical Director of Rocky Mountain Rescue Group. She is the immediate Past President of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) as well as the MRA ICAR MEDCOM delegate and the commission’s Vice President. Dr. Sheets is also the Faculty Technical Director for the Wilderness & Environmental Fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. As a volunteer rescuer and mission leader, she has responded to nearly a thousand SAR missions in Boulder County and beyond. Since 2018 she had been a rescue technician for the Colorado Army National Guard Hoist Rescue Team, serving the State of Colorado. A previous professional climbing guide and ski patroller, Dr. Sheets finds interest in all aspects of mountain emergency medicine but also really enjoys the technical aspects of Search and Rescue.
Dr. Kyle McLaughlin, BSC, MD, CCFP

Kyle is an Emergency Physician based out of Canmore, Alberta and has been involved in Wilderness Medicine for over 20 years. He currently serves as the Medical Director for Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Kluane National Park’s Visitor Safety Program, the Corporate Physician for Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) Heli Ski, cofounder of the Parks Canada Backcountry Medical Council and is a MedCom member for the International Commission for Alpine Rescue.
Over the years he has published in peer reviewed journals, taught extensively and frequently presents at conferences on various Wilderness Medicine topics. He calls Canmore home and whether it is biking, running, skiing or climbing he is happiest when moving through the mountains with his friends and family.
Ryan Clerico, Salt Lake City Sheriff SAR

Ryan Clerico is an 12-year veteran and current Vice Commander of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team, as well as a 15-year member of the Brighton Volunteer Ski Patrol, and previously served as the Mountain Rescue Association’s Avalanche Commission delegate to the International Commission on Alpine Rescue. A career environmental professional, he is the CEO of Enefit Outotec Technology and owner/principal of Finn River Consulting.
Sara Robinson, US Park Ranger

Sara Robinson is a US Park Ranger for the National Park Service. She currently works in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite, where she is a Law Enforcement Officer, ParkMedic/AEMT, instructor for Technical Search and Rescue, and a member of Yosemite’s Helicopter Rescue Team (to name a few). Sara has been working in the NPS since 2009 in Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Haleakala, and Zion National Parks. Sara started her career as a Student Conservation Association intern in Little Yosemite Valley, Yosemite, where she learned her love of rescue and remote medicine. In her spare time, Sara loves to travel abroad with her husband Tim and both are avid outdoors people (climbing, canyoneering, backpacking, kayaking, etc.). Mostly, she loves to fly underneath a helicopter. Sara has a BA in Biology from Colorado College, CO and is originally from Bainbridge Island, WA.

Symposium Organizers

Nancy Ward KCESAR

Symposium Organizer-Co Founder
Nancy Ward volunteers with King County Explorer Search and Rescue (KCESAR) and is an Operations Leader and the Director of Training. As a life-long Washington State resident, her appreciation and love for the mountains of the Pacific Northwest only magnified after joining KCESAR in 2016. Nancy currently serves on the boards of King County Explorer Search and Rescue, and King County Search and Rescue Association.
Heiko Stopsack KC ASU & Hood River Crag Rats

Symposium Organizer - Co Founder
Heiko Stopsack is a Senior Paramedic / Rescue Specialist with King County Medic One - King County Sheriff's Air Support Unit. At home in the Columbia Gorge, he volunteers as a member of the Hood River Crag Rats Mountain Rescue team. Currently serving as the Mountain Rescue Association's delegate to the ICAR avalanche commission and a board member of the Alpine Medical Research Institute, a non-profit that provides mountain medicine education for rescuers. Professional member of the American Avalanche Association.
Natalie Patterson KCESAR

Symposium Organizer
Kelsey Rudd KCESAR

Symposium Organizer